Harry Potter's Deathly Playground
by HP-fanfic-fan101
Summary: At some point during the Battle of Hogwarts, Master of Death Harry Potter died. He now has all of eternity to live out the life/lives he's always wanted...as long as he corrects any dire disturbances he makes to the time stream.
1. Disorientation

**Disclaimer:** Not mine; I wouldn't even dare pretend that it was.

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**'That wand's more trouble than it's worth,' said Harry. 'And quite honestly,' he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, 'I've had enough trouble for a lifetime.'**** [D.H. page 600]**

It was dark all around him and he couldn't feel anything. Harry wondered if he was dead again. Maybe he had never come back to life in the first place and had fought Voldemort as some apparition, too-solid-to-be-a-ghost thing. After all he did misplace the Resurrection Stone; maybe it was a mistake not to worry about what had become of it.

So he could very well be an apparition, powered by the Stone just long enough to finally end Voldemort because no one else but him could and now that his purpose was over, so was his life. He wished Professor Dumbledore would've said something, or at least be here again to greet him and let Harry know what he should do now.

_'Choices Harry...'_

Was this to be his existence for the rest of time now that he was Master of Death? Harry doubted anyone living or dead would be able to tell him; no one has ever been Death's master before (at least as far as he knew). He was the first, "How did I manage to be so lucky?" Harry said sarcastically, or maybe he just thought it. He couldn't really hear himself in this non-place much less anything else.

"What does it mean to be 'Master of Death' anyway?" He shouted into the abyss, not expecting an answer but hoping for one anyway.

_'It's all about your choices...'_ Something seemed to whisper inside him. He thought it sounded a bit like Dumbledore.

"Have I ever had a choice?" He sighed within his own mind, unconsciously he reviewed his life since he found out that he was a wizard and he entered the Wizarding World.

He started to feel dizzy over the amount of precise planning that must have gone in to get him to this point. In fact, the thought of how many people, thoughts, and actions that had to be manoeuvred –proactively or reactively– since who knows how long ago, made Harry feel nauseated. Instinctively, he placed a stabilizing hand behind him, belatedly wondering when he had sat down. His head lolled off to one side, easily finding a wall to rest against.

With sluggish senses Harry was able to register that he was in a small space and there was a sound nearby like pounding on wood.

* * *

The pounding continued, making it hard for Harry to nap peacefully. It finally ceased only to be replaced by bright light and the sound of someone yelling. _'What does the saviour of the Wizarding World have to do to get some sleep?'_ he thought irritably before immediately feeling guilty. It was probably one of his friends worried about him. Just as Harry was about to force himself to give an assuring smile, he felt someone grab him and pull him to his feet while familiar pale eyes filled his vision.

"Vacation's over; get in the kitchen before any more of our breakfast burns." Petunia ordered. She shook Harry out of his stupor before she stalked off to take care of the smoke coming from said room. The whole way there she was mumbling something about 'addled-brained. Lazy brat being left to himself so long his brain has started to rot'.

If Harry wasn't already standing, he would have leapt to his feet in shock of where –and more specifically, _when_– he was. As he was standing, he stormed into the kitchen after his aunt allowing his fury fuel what he had to say about his treatment at his supposed home.

"You miserable, wretched, excuse for an Aunt! How dare you treat me like I was your personal house elf just because Mum and I have magic and you don't! Look at what you're pathetic jealousy has gotten you; is this the life you envisioned for yourself? An obese, spoiled pig of a son and an ignorant as he is fat, whale of a husband?

"How long are you going to act like a victim because your 'parents loved your freak of a sister more than [you]'? You knew it hurt Mum that you thought that way of her! Did you really think that you were the only one who had to try to grasp that Mum was now part of a world you didn't previously know existed? Because you're not.

"There are hundreds of families of Muggle-born children out there who ALL had to go through the same thing as you were going through. Maybe if you hadn't started shutting Mum out, she could have introduced you to others in your situation. At least your parents were supportive, but did you think that it was easy for them? They had no say on whether or not Mum was a witch, just as you have no say on whether or not I'm a wizard!

"Instead you spent the rest of your life telling yourself that you were right to stop treating her like the _sister_ she is and probably make up lies about the kind of person you think she is to try to justify you atrocious behaviour. At least Snape had a legitimate reason to hate me because of who my parents were; you however wouldn't let yourself get past the fact that Mum had a friend that was like her and that she and Snape were going to a school of magic and you weren't!

"You wouldn't have been able to see the school even if you were able to get close to it! Tons of spells are in place to protect the students from any possible outside threat. Considering your behaviour, jealous siblings would certainly count. Even now you still try to punish her for being who she is even though she has been DEAD FOR YEARS. You should be grateful that her final act provides you with protection and all you have to do in return is treat me like I am part of your family. Because I am!

"Believe me I'd rather not, but at least I didn't kill you in order to pretend you never existed." By that last sentence Harry had calmed to the point where it was muttered to himself rather than said for Petunia to hear (though it was possible that she had). It was only once he was calm that he was able to notice his surroundings.

The kitchen was a mess. The food was splattered everywhere at various levels of being burnt, the windows were cracked, the fridge dented, and several pieces of furniture battered to the point where they looked like they would fall down if someone were to use them. Overall, it was as if during his rant, his magic had come out in waves more powerful than Harry could ever remember it being, and tossed the room apart in large sweeping movements. That would probably explain the slightly light-headed feeling he had.

Harry muttered a few spells to clean up the mess as quickly as he could; knowing that without a wand, using magic would exhaust his core even more. Harry sat down to rest on the recently repaired chair and turned his head just enough to see his aunt start to stand up from the corner of the room she had cramped herself in.

Her eyes were wide with terror as she looked at him and Harry could tell she was trembling even as she tried to control it. She quietly gathered more food and walked over to the stove to restart breakfast. The whole time she was taking deep breaths as she willed herself to calm down.

"What the hell has been going on here?" Vernon roared, "Since when is the kitchen door locked!" Petunia, startled by his sudden entrance, had jumped causing the milk she was pouring into the porridge to spill onto the counter. Harry, feeling sorry for scaring her in the same way Riddle used to scare others, got a rag to help her clean up the mess.

Petunia looked at him uncertainly but Harry supposed that was to be expected. The two of them worked silently together to finish breakfast so that it was only a few minutes after Dudley had barged in complaining about starving and going to faint if he didn't eat soon, that they all started eating.

For once Harry was happy to get the mail when Vernon ordered him to, as he saw the beloved Hogwarts invitation letter awaiting him. The difference to this morning verses his memory of this morning, was that when Dudley told on Harry for keeping the letter and went to grab it, Petunia pulled him back. Harry was shocked as he actually heard her whisper _'Not now Diddums'_ as she did.

Vernon however, had snatched the envelop while everyone else was distracted and visibly paled when he realised what it was. Dudley was the only one to ask for the letter back this time. Vernon turned to Harry suspiciously and briefly waved the letter in his face in order to taunt Harry before asking him, "Well why don't you want it boy? It has your name on it."

"I don't need it," Harry responded dismissively, "I already know what it says." As long as Vernon thought Harry wanted something, Harry wouldn't be able to get it. That was one of the many ways Vernon liked to show that he had power over Harry and now that Harry knew better, he wasn't going to let Vernon get the better of him.

"Is that so...?" Vernon sneered, waving the letter once more just far enough from Harry that the boy could possibly reach it if he tried to grab it. Obviously Vernon didn't want Harry to actually get to read it but he couldn't express his frustration at the proof of the boy's freakishness not being squashed, if the boy didn't want the letter.

Harry briefly debated whether he should tell them what he knew the letter to say before deciding that it would really intimidate them if they believed him to be omniscient in the same way Dumbledore seems to be. (And it would be too funny to see their reactions for him not to do it.)

**_"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" _**he quoted. **"_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore; Order of Merlin – First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards._**

**"_Dear Mr. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September._**

**_"We await your owl by no later than 31 July. Yours sincerely; Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."_** Harry finished with a feeling of smug satisfaction at the obvious surprise on his aunt's and uncle's faces from the first word. It didn't matter to him that they managed to recover quicker than he expected by the end; they were as good as any Slytherin at putting on masks in front of others.

In a bit of impetuousness he stated flippantly, "Well I suppose I may have messed up the order of some things, but the content is right."

Annoyed by the boy's confidence, Vernon was quick to discourage the boy before he thought through his response. "Actually boy, it says that you _didn't_ get in. You're too much of a freak even for them!" He put on a triumphant smile and his beady eyes sparkled in anticipation of the boy's dejected demeanor. Vernon was subsequently disappointed when the boy snorted, rolled his eyes –at _them_– and to top it off, added in a 'Right' like he didn't believe a word Vernon had told him! The nerve of that brat!

Petunia, having lived with the man (and his moods) for over a decade, could sense his impending tempers as if they were her own. So before Vernon's face could start going through its cycle of colours she stepped in to back up his story using as much of her knowledge of 'their world' as she could to sound believable. After all, she was still unnerved by how much Harry seemed to already know and she was afraid to let Harry learn how to become any more powerful than he clearly already was.

"Vernon's right Harry," she started with a calm –as if she didn't care that she was about to destroy the hopes of a child (even if she hadn't started yet). She leaned in closer to Vernon as she pretended to read over his shoulder. This position allowed for her to obscure her face as her mind raced to create a good explanation. A smirk started to cross her tight lips as she realised she could use Harry's very recent and unexplained burst of knowledge and magic that he shouldn't have.

"Apparently the wards around this place detected a strong surge of Dark Magic." She hoped some of his new knowledge included the existence of wards; from what she understood of them from Lily and Severus, wards were extremely common amongst wizards especially for detecting or preventing danger. "The school and the Ministry have decided that it would be too great a threat to the other students if you were allowed to attend."

Now Petunia was the one feeling smug as she stood straight and watched avidly as suspicion, doubt, wariness, and confusion flickered across her nephew's face. Each change of emotion was accompanied with increasingly rapid eye movements as he tried to figure out if what she said could be true.

As he looked at them with wide eyes and barely contained horror, Petunia concluded that mentioning the wards and Ministry proved to be worth the risk. Although now she wondered how the boy would know about them. She was also grateful that she didn't mention the Trace, because she couldn't remember if the Trace was on the child or the child's wand. A mistake like that would have ruined the story's plausibility.

Vernon was enjoying his nephew's distress too much to question Petunia about what she said though he would later. Surely, those freaks couldn't be watching their home; and they certainly couldn't be in the government! Petunia must be making it up to scare the boy and it certainly seemed to have worked.

Distracted as Vernon was with his musings, he almost missed Harry lunging towards the letter. Apparently he wanted to read it for himself now. Vernon backed out of Harry's, and then Dudley's, reach fast enough that he wasn't able to keep his girth from knocking the table over. His retreat had already knocked his chair over so now there was a mess of furniture and empty dishes all over the kitchen. Petunia looked ready to faint.

The mess gave Vernon a chance to get to the living room and light a fire in the fireplace as Dudley fought Harry to get to the letter first. The struggle with Dudley was just like the first time, though unlike the first time, Harry knew that he could do magic. Harry managed a small, wandless, Tripping Jinx on Dudley's shoelaces before picking himself off the floor, too determined to get that letter to notice how weak he was feeling. After all, Harry wasn't the youngest Seeker in a century for nothing! (Dudley was too busy trying to keep his balance to be able to try to stop Harry.)

Harry's letter was held about the fire by the time Harry burst into the room attempting a wandless Summoning Charm to retrieve his letter. Vernon was grinning and held the letter closer to the flames, taunting Harry to get the letter before it fell in. Vernon was completely unaware of the failed spell that was cast his way. Harry ran up to him to disarm him both physically and magically, but lost his balance as Vernon pushed Harry over and released the letter into the fire.

The fall made Harry hit the back of his head against the wall and slump into a seated position as Petunia and Dudley entered. Blackness was clouding Harry's vision quickly and the words being said turned to nothing more than a buzz. He could not identify the source of the whispers he was hearing or what they said.

Dudley looked from the unconscious form of his cousin on the floor to his parents, "so what's going to happen now?" he asked fearfully. "Is someone going to come for him?"

Petunia shooed Dudley out of the room before turning toward her husband, "we will have to write the school a letter and get them to believe the boy doesn't want to go. We can figure out what to do with the body afterward."

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**2818 words**

**Author's Note:** I just had to say that when I thought of this idea -quite randomly as are all my story ideas- I just wanted to add the last paragraph of Deathly Hallows just to set up where in time this story starts. I forgot what Harry's last words were and now that I've seen it, I can't stop laughing because of how ironic that statement is for what I have planned for this story.

**AN2:** I apologize to anyone who feels that the plot is moving too slowly, I do **[did]**, but I felt that doing it this way was necessary. The main plot should pick up by about half-way through the next chapter; I'm a bit nervous about it because it is going to be a change from how the story has been going so far.

I'm not sure how you all will feel about this once you realise the direction it is going in, but I hope that you will give it a few chapters before you decide whether or not you want to continue reading it. I intend to post a new chapter every 2 weeks to give me time to write the next chapter. I have the outline for this story in my mind; I'm just having trouble getting the words together.


	2. Fallout

**Disclaimer:** It's the same as the one before.

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Albus Dumbledore was not happy; his supply of lemon drops had run out. He couldn't remember the last time he couldn't find even one drop anywhere amongst his belongings. What was worse was his usual supplier had sent him a letter to inform him that due to the low sales in lemon drops, there wouldn't be any more made. The letter was so distressing he reached to grab a lemon drop only to remember he didn't have any more.

Albus couldn't tell which letter had him more upset; this one or the one from Harry Potter. It was while reading Mr. Potter's rejection to Hogwarts letter that Albus had felt the strong urge to suck a lemon drop only to make his horrifying discovery. No lemon drops truly were a bad omen. While Albus was searching he pondered Harry Potter's letter.

Harry had stated that he didn't feel he was suitable for Hogwarts. That he had been studying his mother's old textbooks since he was old enough to read. He therefore felt that he would be too far ahead of the other students for there to be any sense in him attending.

Albus had frowned at that point; surely Harry couldn't have mastered all 7 years worth of curriculum without even having a wand. Even if his aunt – who was the only one Harry knew who may have an idea about understanding the curriculum – was helping him to understand... and sure enough Harry's letter said that she was; he must have needed additional help from a trained witch or wizard.

Instead, Harry's letter said that he was going to go to a Muggle school and refine his magic skills through part-time studying. It was as if he thought magic was just a hobby and not a serious subject that leads to serious careers! Albus was aghast at the thought that his relatives would let him believe that.

According to Harry, his Aunt and Uncle fully supported his decision and did not want to see him needlessly put himself in danger by being surrounded by numerous inexperienced magic-wielders. Albus had to sigh at that; he could see the logic there. Though he believed that raising Harry would help Petunia overcome any remaining misgivings about magic, he had never expected that she would become so protective of Harry that she would teach him herself and keep him away from others like him.

Unfortunately Albus had no doubt that Harry had written the letter willingly; he could tell just by the look of each letter, that the writer was confident in what he was saying. Albus had also cast a spell on the letter which confirmed that it was indeed written by an 11 year old boy.

This was why Albus had been reaching for his lemon drops; the argument that someone who had learned what Hogwarts had to teach, would see no value in attending was reasonable (not that he was willing to agree). So were Harry and the Dursleys belief that Hogwarts wasn't safe; that would have to be corrected. However, that thought unpleasantly reminded Albus of the rumours he had been hearing about Voldemort's returning power.

Something needed to be done Albus thought dispiritedly. He shall need to contact Arabella Figg for her opinion on Harry's abilities. Perhaps she could bring him some sherbet lemons while she makes her report; at least enough to satiate Albus until he can find a new supplier of lemon drops.

* * *

_'Something needed to be done'_ Petunia thought worriedly as she looked out the window for what must be the fiftieth time that day. Since sending the letter through regular mail almost two weeks ago, she had been averaging what seemed like a hundred glances a day.

She wished she knew if the school had gotten her letter though it wasn't sent by owl; regular mail seemed to have worked back in '71 when she was asking Dumbledore if she could attend Hogwarts with her sister. Petunia didn't see how now would be much different; _'Except I had received a response from Dumbledore by this point!'_ She was quite frustrated by now; without any form of response she had no idea whether she and Vernon's plan to mislead Dumbledore worked or not.

Petunia wasn't just waiting for Dumbledore's response why she was frequently looking out the window. She was more certain with each completely normal, silent day that someone was watching them and knew what they did. She couldn't explain the feeling but it made her jittery.

"Mu-u-um, I can't find my video game." Dudley whined, "You said you would help me find it."

"Right, right of course Diddy Darling" Petunia started distractedly, her right hand coming to rest over her racing heart. "Just... don't sneak up on Mummy next time okay?"

"You still worried about those weirdoes? You and Dad said I wrote the letter perfectly." Dudley crossed his arms and started to pout, which given his girth made him look constipated.

"You did, of course you did Dudders." Petunia rushed to assure him, "Mummy just wants to be prepared in case they try anything. Remember they don't think like us normal people, we can never be too careful with how they will react to anything."

"But they can't prove anything without a body, Dad said so. What did you guys do with Harry anyway?"

"You don't need to worry about that Diddums, have you checked in between the sofa cushions for your game? You've been in the den all day." Dudley shook his head. "Well why don't you try there and make sure you don't forget to check under the sofa as well."

"Okay," Dudley petulantly told his mother as he went to check those areas.

Relieved at not having to answer Dudley's question Petunia went to find something to do. She didn't want to think about what she and Vernon did with the body; it was too creepy. As soon as Dudley had left the room that day, she and Vernon got some garbage bags to put Harry in while they brainstormed for a more permanent solution.

The answer had presented itself when Vernon had gone into the basement to get a shovel and returned complaining about the room needing to be repaired. Petunia asked him if he could pick up some materials on the way home so that they could repair the basement that night.

She was sure to mention industrial strength plastic sheets, waterproof insulation, and concrete. Vernon then tossed the shovel, following with Harry, into the basement before saying goodbye to his wife and leaving for work while she kept Dudley distracted until she could lead him out the door to play with his friends.

During the day Petunia had prepared the basement for renovation and grabbed rolls of plastic wrap to bind Harry's body in before returning him to the garbage bag. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. She didn't want to worry about limbs falling out of the bag or blood seeping onto the floor, and she hoped that the plastic wrap bound tightly enough would keep away the smell.

As an added precaution, she had included industrial strength plastic sheets in her list of materials for Vernon to buy because she knew that what they had around the house wouldn't be strong enough on its own.

By now she regretted removing Harry from the bag; Vernon's toss had cracked Harry's head open more than it had been before. The toss had also banged him up enough that guts, flesh, and his brain's grey matter were spilling out from all over him. It was only the garbage bags already there that kept the mess off of the floor.

Petunia was certain that the sight of Harry's mangled body would haunt her to her dying day; where she presumes Harry, Lily, and possibly her parents, will continue for an eternity.

Once Vernon returned home and Harry was bound in the garbage bags tight enough to look like a log or mummy, they started to work on sealing Harry into the walls of the basement. The following day Petunia had finished while Vernon and Dudley were out so that the end result was a slightly smaller basement as she had created a new set of walls so that there wouldn't be any one spot that looked different from the others.

Perhaps knowing that she had a slowly decomposing body within the walls of her house was what had her feeling like she was being watched.

* * *

What Petunia didn't know was that she was being watched and the watcher was furious at what he saw.

At first Harry was confused to find himself back in the Void as he had started to refer to the dark empty space. Then Harry had noticed a single ribbon of light not far from himself. As he got closer to the light Harry realised that it looked more like a glowing stream of water than a ribbon. What was unusual about the glowing stream was that right in the middle, it split to form around a square area like a frame for a window.

Harry had curiously peered through the area and that's how he had seen how the Dursleys had disposed of his corpse. When Harry had experimented with moving the window, he had stumbled onto the scene with Dumbledore searching his office for something after reading a letter. Dumbledore hadn't been talking so Harry had lost interest in watching him in favour of trying to figure out what to do about getting himself apparently killed as far as anyone in this stream was aware.

Harry had been able to shift the window back on the Dursleys where Vernon was now carrying a shovel. "They're going to bury me? Where, the backyard? It's not like they can get far with a BODY in their car; not with the nosey neighbours and Mrs. Figg watching everything."

Harry had leaned in while he was talking so that he wouldn't miss anything (particularly if he wouldn't be able to hear otherwise). He was subsequently confused when he was struck with the sensation of falling, only to be followed by the sensation of being picked up and tossed onto someone's shoulders, before quickly being followed by the sensation of falling again.

Then there was pain, a lot of pain and all over. When Harry opened his eyes again he saw that he was back in the Void and through the window, his body was now at the bottom of the basement stairs.

"Oh-kay..." Harry said confusedly as he slowly backed away from the window, "so whenever I die, I end up back here." Harry sighed, "I guess that rules out the possibility that this is a dream."

Harry looked around himself and reflected on what he knew so far. _'Not much, other than I'm definitely dead.'_ He looked back to the only other thing in this space besides him _'and I can somehow travel back in time. Except I died there too so I don't know what good that does me.'_ Harry walked back to the window and watched as Petunia and Vernon started to seal him into their wall. Harry slid the window from that scene in disgust. '_I can re-inhabit my body, but I have to be careful not to die again when I do.'_

He considered re-inhabiting his body and then using magic to break himself out of the wall. _'I won't be able to breathe the way I'm stuck in that wall. And all that pain...I'll probably die again long before I can get out.'_ He also remembered all that magic he used just before his death. _'Wandless and for the first part, out of control...I wonder if that was a bigger factor in my death than the initial hit to my head. If so then I doubt my core has had a chance to recover with my body dead.'_

He glanced at where in the stream the window was showing. It looked like everything was back to normal at the Dursley home; _'as if they haven't murdered their own nephew and stashed his body within their home. The only difference seems to be that Petunia has more time to watch the neighbours now that she has no one to order around taking up that precious time.'_ Harry was furious. _'I wouldn't want to go through being stuck with the Dursleys again anyway!'_

He moved far away from the stream and began to pace in the Void until he began to calm down. "If I'm going to go back in time for any reason, it would be to save my parents." He muttered to himself; "but I can only inhabit my body...what can a baby do? Was I able to talk in sentences by then? Would they be able to understand me – or believe me?"

He re-approached the window, sliding it upstream as he continued to think aloud. "Maybe, maybe I can possess someone else... someone like Sirius, or my Dad."

The window had now reached the point where he had first entered this timeline. He tried to move it further but it wouldn't budge. The more Harry tried to move the window beyond the start of the stream, the more tired and frustrated he became. Eventually the pressure of it all was too much and he gave up trying that way.

He pushed the watery-looking frame of the window in anger and watched in surprise as the whole stream and window moved a bit farther away from him. Harry walked away from the stream to give himself more distance from the other stream as he tried to focus on the night his parents died.

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**2286 words**

**Author's Note:** I realised that expecting readers to wait 3 chapters before getting into the main story is unreasonable; especially when I don't always read past chapter 2 of a story before deciding whether or not I'll continue. Therefore, I've moved the previously designated chapter 3 to be the new chapter 2 and combined the two prior chapters as one.

(Individually those first two chapters are both shorter than this one so it makes sense not to have such a vast discrepancy in chapter lengths.)


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